A Hidden Road
by Cheeseball417
Summary: On her way back from a terrible vacation, Hermione spots a concealed road. Needing to know where it leads, she ventures down the path only to find and old friend. Currently a one shot, but could become a multichap with reviews!
1. Chapter 1

"Jen, he said I was boring and left two days in." Hermione responded to her dear muggle friend Jen.

Hermione had been working at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's new office: the Office of Wartime Recovery. The office specialized in finding people whose fate was unknown and prosecuting and rehabilitating former Death Eaters. The office hired her as a lowly desk jockey just after the conclusions of the war, but that was **five years ago**. Now she enjoyed the title, and an increased pay stream, of Head within her department.

It was uncommon for a girl of only twenty-three to occupy such a high position within the ministry, but it was also uncommon for a girl to be Hermione Granger. **After her first year**, she took her NEWTS, one in every subject, after teaching herself the final year of curriculum. She passed each with Outstanding marks in all but two, Astronomy and Divination, neither of which she particularly cared about. With the grades and the name, when the previous Head retired during **her third year**, Hermione was thrown into pool to be his successor. To Hermione's surprise, she got the job.

As the Head of the Office of Wartime Recovery she was in charge of overseeing all that occurred in her office. She didn't have to _do_ anything, just approve things _others_ did. For example, during the first two months of her tenure the office was finishing imprisoning all major Death Eaters. She signed the warrants for Lucius Malfoy and the Carrows to be sent to Azkaban but she ensured the children of known death eaters who did not actively participate received lesser punishments.

As it was, half a decade later, the office's work was slowing down and she was very rarely needed in person. As such, she decided to take a week's vacation to visit the city of Boston in the United States. It would have been a fascinating vacation, that she was sure with all the historical landmarks in a new land, if she hadn't brought along her boyfriend of five years, Ronald Weasley.

After the Battle of Hogwarts the two had begun dating seriously. Or at least she had thought so. On two occasions she found him in broom cupboards with witches that were not Hermione. Both times she took him back after he promised it was the last time. For five years she heard rumors of further infidelity circling her, but she stayed with him because, if the condition of his flat was any indication, he needed her. But over their vacation, she had had enough. Anytime she wanted to do anything he would whine and complain. Their tiffs culminated into their end-all fight. He called her boring, she called him lazy. She called him dirty, he called her over controlling. He called her a Mudblood, she left the hotel.

"So you two are over then?" Jen asked from her seat behind the driver's wheel.

"I'd bet on it."

A years ago, in her **fourth** year at the ministry, she had finally found her parents. They were dead and buried in Australia; killed in a car accident of all things. Previously she had been living in her childhood home, enjoying the proximity to her parents' memory, but know that she _knew_ beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were never coming back the house and the memories it held strangled her. She sold the small house and using the sale's money plus a bit of her reward from the war, Hermione bought a sprawling estate complete with a four-bedroom Tudor style abode and a small lake in the small town of Wiltshire.

Due to her role in the war and her parents passing plus a steady and sizable salary, Hermione Granger was slowly amassing a Gringotts account that rivaled Harry's, who insisted on spending rather than saving. Without money issues, there was truly no reason for her to seek out a roommate, but she did anyway. This is where Jen came in.

Jennifer McDougall was a muggle from America who had returned to England to relive her family's past. She missed her mark by a few hundred northward miles. However, she had spent the majority of her savings getting to England and with an orphan's lot, she had nowhere to turn to. The two girls met at a bookstore where Jen worked and Hermione frequented. After several conversations regarding the virtues of _Pride and Prejudice_ and after learning about Jen's near homelessness, Hermione offered her very cheap room and board. Living in such close quarters, the two became even closer friends, soon, Hermione clued Jen in on magic, bonding the two for life.

"Hey Jen, when did that road go in?" Hermione had only been gone a week, yet there was a new road clearing a path through the once-dense forest.

"What road?" Jen turned her head to glance where Hermione was indicating, still keeping one eye on the road, "All I see is a dirt path. If you can even call it that!"

"I swear! I even think I saw a gate a ways down!" Hermione turned around in the convertible to try and get another look.

"We'll be home in five minutes, then we can come back and investigate."

The sun hung low in the sky as Hermione parked her car, her one true indulgence, on the side of the main road. Jen got out of the passenger side and walked to where Hermione was standing in front of the new road.

"It's right here." Hermione declared, stepping onto the way in question.

"You're standing on grass, Mione." Jen furrowed her brow. "Do you think it's – magical." Jen whispered the last word.

Hermione shrugged and looked both ways then back again on the main street. She pulled her wand from her inside pocket and performed the revealing charm. Between her and Jen, a glowing white line appeared on the ground. A white line meant a muggle concealment charm. Jen couldn't see beyond the line and probably couldn't cross is, "Jen go wait in the car, here are the keys. I'm going to explore."

After some protest, Jen returned to the car, grumbling about "Stupid wizards get to have all the fun." Hermione began advancing down the road. It was, after all, her job to know about magic and its goings on. There was a magical roadway appearing just five minutes from her house and her wartime senses were going crazy.

Hermione could no longer see Jen by the time she reached the second barrier, a dark blue line on the ground. She wracked her brains – _dark blue, dark blue what was dark blue, something about knowing the person_. Hermione cast a quick protection spell around herself and crossed the threshold. She was allowed passage. So she knew the person. She knew a lot of people, not all of them pleasant. Crabbe Sr. had escaped arrest, as had Mulciber. She now approached with caution, until a tall and imposing gate appeared before her, underneath it glowed a bright red line. A blood barrier.

She stepped closer to the gate, curious as to the golden crest, standing proudly against the black metal. A large 'M' atop a shield surrounded by dragons and serpents.

"Ms. Granger?" A man stepped through the gate, having been invisible on the other side of the barrier, "Is it you who was setting off all my wards?"

She was temporarily speechless. In front of her stood a man, impeccably dressed – dark jeans, dark dress shoes and a dark grey sweater rolled up to his elbows – and pointing a wand at her and yet she was more stunned with the politeness in his greeting.

She had to clear her throat before she could speak, "Um, yes, Mr. Malfoy. I suppose I was."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN** Hello everyone! Wow. That was a lot of love! So I _need_ to continue the story. The updates will be a bit slow since I am going back to school soon, but I will do my best to keep them steady.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed (it really made my day!) and would like to address a couple:

Lady Proserpina: I wasn't too clear on the Statute of Secrecy, but I really wanted Hermione to have a muggle friend and her knowing about magic will be necessary in later chapters. I will explain away the infraction by saying Hermione is both a war hero and a high ranking government official therefore she has the authority to clue in a small number of trusted muggles. Does that work? Let's pretend it does, because otherwise you are totally correct.

Ramyfan: She left him after the Mudblood incident, that's why the vacation was so terrible. In my mind she explained the cheating away as "he wants something more casual than I do" or as "he needs time to grow up" or even "he needs me." I don't think any of those responses are too far from Hermione's character as I always thought she had a sort of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to Ron as she might get mad but she always returns to him, which is what I imagine happening whenever she caught him cheating.

Any further questions: review them and I will do my best to answer them!

* * *

"Ms. Granger!" A blonde wizard exclaimed, crossing the threshold into her office, "Long time no see!" He sat in a chair across from her, "How was your vacation? I heard Mr. Weasley came back early..." She looked up from her paper work to examine his expensive green robes with a golden, ornate M emblazoned on his right breast.

"My vacation went well, thank you Mr. Mortimer." The man remained in his seat, "Was there anything else you needed?" She saw no file on his person.

"I just wanted to let you know, if the Weasley bloke didn't work out, there are other, more desirable options. Feel free to inquire." He winked, stood and left, leaving Hermione with her jaw dropped, unattractively.

* * *

"Neville! How are you today!" The man in question stumbled into her office with a teetering and towering stack of paperwork. _Oh no…_

"Hi Hermione. Here are my reports." Upon inquiring why there were so many, he blushed and stated "I didn't realize the outbox on my desk didn't automatically send the paperwork where it needed to go." Hermione groaned and dismissed her old classmate.

Neville had been working at the ministry for the past two years. He had tried his hand at an Auror position, but was too forgetful to succeed and so for the past two months, after his failed Auror training, he had been working in the Department of Wartime Recovery. That meant this paperwork spent two months of work. If she had known this much work remained shoe would have skipped that terrible vacation.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, Hermione remained hunched over her desk. She only had one more stack of paper to go. Neville had been working on the children of Slytherin deemed to be a minor threat, most of which they had gone to school with. A the top of every week's worth was a list of names with a status. Every living name received a file with any and all information that could legally be obtained.

Marcus Flint – living

Terence Higgs - deceased

Adrian Pucey – living

Lucian Bole - deceased

Blaise Zabini - living

Flora Carrow – living

Hestia Carrow - living

Millicent Bulstrode - deceased

Pansy Parkinson - deceased

Vincent Crabbe - deceased

Gregory Goyle - deceased

Draco Malfoy – living

This list captured the overall carnage well. For every two Slytherin students Hermione went to school with, one was dead, typically due to convictions of family members or their house rather than their own. Higgs, Bulstrode, Crabbe and Goyle died in the Battle of Hogwarts while Bole and Parkinson died while trying to escape prosecution. Flint and Pucey were sentenced to five years of community service. Hermione made a note that their required time at St. Mungo's was almost over. Zabini and the Carrow sisters were declared innocent since they had never taken the dark mark. Malfoy, who had taken the dark mark and had come from the family he did, managed to make a deal with the Department of Law Enforcement. He provided every piece of information about every Death Eater he knew and allowed unfettered access to the Manor for the Ministry to clear out left over Death Eater paraphernalia.

"Well that's why I didn't know his address…" On the top of Malfoy's file, the Manor's address was printed clear as day.

"Who's address?" A voice came from the doorway. _Harry!_

Harry had been on an auror operation for the past month. She didn't know where he had been or what he had been doing, but he was home now and that's all that mattered.

Harry had grown up in the past five years, he was still tall, but his shoulders had broadened and his knees were no longer knobbly. He completed the NEWTS needed and joined the auror profession as soon as possible. He was an entry-level auror four years ago, now he headed the auror department.

She shook off the question, saying she was simply talking to herself as she worked, an old habit of hers. "Well then, how are you doing, 'Mione?" She nodded. And she nodded. She kept nodding. Suddenly the tears started falling, one by one and then a torrent.

* * *

"You know Ron has anger problems, 'Mione." Harry poured his friend another mug of butterbeer, "Ginny does too, occasionally, I think it's the red hair." Harry chuckled, but Hermione scowled.

"Harry, h-he called me a Mudblood. I tolerated all his other screw ups because he needed me, but I couldn't tolerate that awful word."

"I understand. But remember, he's still our friend, 'Mione." Harry looked at her with heavy eyes.

"He might be yours but he's not mine."


End file.
